Industrial control systems, like those used in the oil and gas production industry, frequently include one or more remote terminal units (RTUs) and/or flow computers as key components in an operating process unit of a control system (e.g., at a wellhead oil production site). RTUs are used to interface a control system host with field devices (e.g., valves, valve positioners, switches, sensors, transmitters, etc.) configured to perform control functions such as opening or closing valves and measuring process parameters. RTUs enable this interface by communicating commands from the host to the field devices and by communicating data sent by the field devices back to the host. Further, RTUs may interact with the field devices independent of the host to, for example, buffer communication data, handle time-dependent tasks, calculate and/or implement control actions, and manage historical/trend data. Such communications may be implemented via any of analog, digital, or combined analog/digital buses using any desired communication media (e.g., hardwired, wireless, etc.) and protocols (e.g., Fieldbus, Profibus®, HART®, etc.). Additionally or alternatively, RTUs may act as standalone devices that implement process control and data archiving independent of commands provided by the host (and/or without connection to the host).